July 7th by Eric Nunnally

July 7^th by Eric Nunnally

Stuttering matchsticks
Nervous cause they smell gasoline
And a hot head’s coming
That’s gonna blow it for everyone.

They had their folding chairs lined up along the sidewalk
Straw hats and glasses of lemonade
Police issue sunglasses and tight lips

When I saw the sweat on her thigh
I knew today was the first day of summer
July 7^th two hours after noon
And the ice cream truck was comin

Somebody had changed the sun for
A higher wattage bulb
That shined the clouds away
And blinded the outfield

Making baseballs dangerous things.

Fifteen cents for Italian ice
Or we could go and find out how the kid drowned at the pool
When we just went by there
And no one had filled it up

Old ladies with no panties sitting on the stoop in summer dresses
Breathing with their mouths open
And their teeth upstairs

A gun was a stove top
And nobody wanted to be in the kitchen
Unless the Kool-aid was finished freezing
And impatient, sticky fingers hadn’t eaten them all

Too hot to look mean
Too hot to cuss
Too hot to move
Til they broke open the fire hydrant

May 15, 2004

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